I always wondered that too, luckily Farhad Manjoo answers that lingering question with this paragraph in his treatise for why the Surface is going to be great — keep in mind he only spent 90 seconds with the device, in a powered off state:

Microsoft has clearly spent a lot of time making this thing look and feel just right. The Surface isn’t flashy—it’s less outwardly gorgeous than the new iPad—but it is delightfully functional. It’s got a kickstand built invisibly into the device, and, even better, Microsoft created an ingenious case that includes a “pressure sensitive” touch keyboard right inside the cover. If it works well, the keyboard—which I got to inspect at great length but not actually type on—is going to be the Surface’s killer attraction.

Things that should be illegal to say until you use something for prolonged periods of time: